Eternity's End
by Cathain Nottingham
Summary: The war is over, but is life just beginning or has it ended?


Title: Eternity's End   
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Spoilers: None  
  
Season: Future  
  
Summary: The war is over, but is life just beginning or has it ended?  
  
Disclaimer: Okay I don't own Stargate SG-1 or anything to do with it's universe, you know that and I know that so lets not bring it up. I also don't own the lyrics used in this fic, they're Sarah McLachlan's. I do own the plot though.  
  
Author's Note: This became my escape during a weekend of paper writing. I hope you like it, please review.  
  
--------------  
  
Sam looked around, her mind numb, she couldn't feel her body, her ears rang and her blood poured onto the ground in crimson waves. Somehow she found the strength to stand and slowly her eyes adjusted, a few feet from her lay Lieutenant Jennifer Hailey, her body lay broken, her left arm was missing and yet the young woman was still breathing. Just beyond her lay two SG-3 members, their bodies still smoldering. As far as Sam could see, bodies littered the ground.  
  
Several bodies moved as Teal'c stood from under them. He looked at Sam though his remaining eye, the other separated by a large gaping wound that began at his forehead and ran to his lip. He nodded his head as he had done so many times before and Sam could feel herself nod back.  
  
Next to stand was Daniel. He stood and looked around, his own survey of the damage, before turning back to Sam. His blue eyes burned against his blackened skin, burned by the gunfire and smoke. Sam noticed that a bone stuck out of his right leg, but he didn't seem to notice. His once glittering eyes were glazed and hollow.   
  
Sam watched as the first of the rescue teams arrived. They quickly began combing though the bodies, searching for survivors. Within moments three more teams had arrived, the military BDU's mixed with the Tok'ra tan and soon the Jaffa appeared too.  
  
A medical officer finally got over to Sam as Lt. Hailey was being carried away. Sam watched the medical officer speak to her in silence, his lips were moving but the ringing in her head was just too loud.  
  
As Sam, Teal'c and Daniel were being escorted away, Sam caught the sight of Jack, who was just being uncovered. His chocolate brown eyes met her sky blue and there was a flash of sadness shared between them, followed by relief, it was over. The war was over.  
  
--------------  
  
It had taken several weeks to get the SGC back in order. Most of the SG teams needed partial or full replacement and those that survived needed nearly round the clock medical care.  
  
Sam's hearing had slowly returned, her wounds were all but healed but she still felt hollow. She hadn't cried after, she hadn't laughed, it was as if her body had turned to autopilot and hadn't come out yet.  
  
Teal'c did indeed lose his left eye, his face now bisected by a scar. He had been quiet since returning home, overly quiet even for him.  
  
Daniel was still limping around on crutches, his right leg still in its cast. He had been severely burned in several places and the skin grafts that he had been given were healing nicely. He had wandered around the base for the past few weeks lost, like he had so much to do he couldn't think of it all, but he had nothing to do at all.  
  
Jack had also become uncharacteristically silent. After he got out of the Infirmary he went to his office, where he spent most of his time now. He had ruptured an eardrum, broken three ribs and nearly lost a leg to infection.  
  
Now Sam found herself standing in the Embarkation room wearing her dress blues. Jack stood on the other side of the room in his as Teal'c stood off to the side, alone. Daniel stood as best he could on crutches next to Lt. Hailey, whose dress blues looked perfect aside from the left sleeve, which was pinned up, making her look like a veteran of war, which was exactly what she was.  
  
Sam felt her body move to attention as the blast doors opened and the President walked in. Jack walked over and shook his hand before taking his position next to Sam, the rest of SG-1 followed.  
  
The President gave a speech, of that Sam was sure because his lips were moving, but the words never made it into her head. He awarded all survivors various medals and honors, Jack received promotion to Brigadier General and Sam herself received Lieutenant Colonel ranking.  
  
The President left and many personnel lingered, chatting amongst themselves. Daniel and Lt. Hailey made a quiet exit, as did Teal'c, the three disappeared somewhere into the base. Jack, on the other hand, made a hasty exit. Sam took several minutes to survey the people around her before she herself retreated to her lab.  
  
Sam grabbed a notebook off of her workbench and opened it. The pages were filled with words, with ideas on just about any subject that had entered her mind. She opened to a random page to find a partial set of lyrics she had written.  
  
*If I had the chance love  
  
I would not hesitate  
  
To tell you all things I never said before  
  
Don't tell me it's too late  
  
'Cause I've relied on my illusion  
  
To keep me warm at night  
  
And I've denied in my capacity to love  
  
But I am willing to give up this fight*  
  
For the first time since she regained consciousness on the battlefield all those weeks ago, Sam could feel something within her warm, a little piece of her soul that had dried up and cracked had melted and suddenly everything fell into perspective.   
  
Sam closed the journal and picked it up as she grabbed her car keys and left her lab. She was done denying herself, it was over. The denying was over.  
  
--------------  
  
Sam drove for what seemed like forever. Her dress jacket was thrown over her back seat, her hat was somewhere on the floor and her high heels were on the seat next to her.   
  
As she took the final turnoff, Sam slipped the shoes back on and grabbed the jacket before she got out of the car. She walked around the cabin; her shoes crunched over the foliage from the surrounding forest and found him standing at the end of a small wooden dock, the sound of her car had no doubt alarmed him.  
  
Her sky blue eyes met his chocolate brown as she moved towards him. Another piece of her soul warmed as he began walking towards her. They met in the middle and suddenly it was as if the entire world stopped, holding its breath in anticipation. And for the first time in as many weeks Sam felt herself smile as his brown eyes once again danced with that playful energy.   
  
Neither was sure how it happened but somewhere in those eternity-filled moments their lips met in their first real kiss. No alien influences, no alternate versions, no time loops, just the taste of the other.  
  
Finally they broke apart and Sam found herself searching his eyes for some sign, some signal. It came when he reached out and grabbed her hand. That one motion released the rest of her soul, for the first time in her life she was completely content.   
  
He stood there before her, his dress jacket hung on him, unbuttoned, his tie was at half-mast and the top several buttons on his shirt were undone but his eyes once again held that sparkle of life, the twinkle of love.  
  
Sam smiled as they walked hand in hand to the end of the dock, taking a seat and looking out over the water. Sam leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder and he responded by draping his arm around her and kissing the top of her forehead.  
  
Nothing mattered, not anymore. They were going to be together despite anything. They had earned it, they deserved it, it was over. Their wait was finally over.  
  
--------------  
  
After Thought: What did you think? Did you notice that there is no speaking whatsoever in the story? I got about halfway though writing it before I realized it and I just kept it going. I think its safe to assume everyone knows whom Sam met with at the end. Please review and let me know what you thought, this was a bit different than usual so I'm interested to get feedback. 


End file.
